Mystic of Eastmarch
by keihra93
Summary: Kiliun has always felt as though she was cursed, rather than gifted by the Divines, however her visions have proven useful, at least to everyone but herself. She spends years in solitude, living a humble life in a riverside shack until someone unexpected stumbles across her path and her life is turned upside down when the future becomes unknown to her; a rare thing indeed.
1. Chapter 1

_"My lord, have you heard of that child the Keepers of the Grove have been raising?"_

_Jarl Uhtred Hoag Stormcloak looked at his steward. "What child?"_

_"They say that this child is incredibly gifted, even at such a young age. They say that she can peer into the future and has yet to be wrong."_

_"A mystic?"_

_"Yes, my lord. Apparently, the Keepers discovered her ability shortly after she came to them when she predicted the death of one of their elders. A few weeks later, the man suddenly keeled over, dead when he hit the ground."_

_"Really?"_

_"They say his heart gave out, but some believe that this child is cursed and that curse is what killed him."_

_"How old is this girl?"_

_"She's only about twelve, my lord."_

_"Poor girl..." Hoag stood from his throne. "I think I should meet this mystic child for myself."_

* * *

_"Temba, there is someone here to see you, child."_

_Temba looked up from where she sat in the corner, reading, and saw her caretaker, Drilda, approaching with a strange man in expensive looking clothes. "You're the Jarl of Eastmarch."_

_"I am."_

_"You're right on time, my lord." Temba set her book aside and stood, offering him a small bow. "You have questions for me?"_

_Hoag looked at Drilda, a bit surprised at Temba's lack thereof, but he nodded and returned his attention to the girl. "I do. I've heard tales of your ability and wish to see it for myself."_

_Temba stepped forward, asking for his hand and waiting for him to present it to her. She closed her eyes and followed the threads of his being as she searched for his future. After a few moments, she stepped back with teary eyes and asked if he was sure he wanted to know his future._

_"I am, lass." Hoag replied, seeing that she had incredibly red hair like fire and her eyes were each a different color- one blue like sapphires while the other was green like emeralds._

_"Very well, my lord. You will find a wife, a good woman from a good family, and she will bear you a son. But she will not live past one turn of the seasons after his birth. It will be no one's fault, she will simply fall ill and succumb to her sickness. You will seek out healers from across the land to save her, but it will be to no avail. She will ask that you take care of your child, raise him for the both of you, and she will give her love to you and your child before she passes. You will grieve, but you will also thrive as not just a man but also as a father. Your son will grow up to be strong and he will do you proud, but he will change when war comes and he loses you, too. His rebellion will claim many lives, but he will always fight for what he believes is right. He is destined for great things, but they come at a price."_

_Hoag stared down at the child as she wiped the tears from her face, taking in everything that she said. She gave no specific timeline for this to happen, but somehow he knew deep down that she spoke the truth._

_"Will there be anything else, my lord?" Temba asked._

_Hoag simply shook his head and thanked her before turning to leave her to her peace. He waited by the door as Drilda made sure that Temba would be alright, then looked to the older priestess when she joined him and asked, "Has she truly never been wrong?"_

_Drilda sighed and shook her head. "No, my lord. Her visions and predictions have always proven to be true." She glanced back at Temba's room. "It's a shame so many believe her to be cursed."_

_"I heard about Siffrek."_

_"The poor man had a weak heart, which everyone knew, but they blame that poor girl for his heart finally giving out." Drilda looked to the jarl once more. "She is not cursed, my lord, she is blessed with a very beautiful and terrifying gift. But I fear that someday soon, she will not see it as a gift and begin to believe that it's a curse and that she will shut everyone out."_

_"For one so young, this is a terrible burden she must carry..." Hoag added. He sighed and thanked Drilda before bidding her farewell as he returned to his carriage. 'We shall soon see if what she spoke of comes to pass...'_

* * *

Some three or four years had passed by since the Great Bear of Eastmarch met the mystic child and her vision was beginning to prove true. Hoag had met and married a woman named Helgi Jorgensen and just as Temba said, Helgi was a good woman from a good family. Hoag and Helgi were an excellent match, both strong bloodlines, but on the 4th of Rain's Hand in the year 4E 149, when news came of her birthing a son, Hoag knew that his time left with her was running out.

As the new child of the Stormcloak clan, Ulfric, grew from a wee babe to a strong little tyke nearing his first year, Helgi grew sick and her condition continued to deteriorate until she was bedridden. Hoag hoped that Temba had been wrong, somehow, and sent for healers from across the land in hopes of saving his beloved. But it was to no avail. Just a day before Ulfric turned one, Helgi passed away and left behind a grieving husband and an unknowing child.

News spread of the passing of Lady Helgi and when it reached Kynesgrove and the Keepers, more of the Keepers blamed Temba for her death just as they had with Siffrek. Temba couldn't take it anymore, so she ran away and found herself wandering the wilds until she came across an abandoned shack next to the river. There were no signs of people or animals having traipsed through, so Temba sought shelter in the old shack. Not knowing what else she could do, she simply curled up into a ball and cried herself to sleep.

For as long as she could remember, she had always been able to see into the future. But there was a catch: she could not see anything as it directly related to herself. Because of this, she could not see that her family would be attacked by bandits and that her parents would be killed, she could not see that she would have been captured by the bandits and abused and her ability exploited only to be discarded and left for dead when she grew ill from being overworked. She could not have foreseen that she would end up in Kynesgrove with the Keepers of the Grove or that they would blame her for someone's death when she predicted their passing, calling her ability a curse. And now, Temba was beginning to believe that it was in fact a curse and not a gift from the Divines as her parents had told her it was.

Temba spent the next eight years alone in the wilds of Eastmarch Hold, but she grew accustomed to it. By the time she had come of age, she had met a man named Taldic who had taken to visiting her quite often and found that she was growing rather fond of him. It was always a surprise when he stopped by because she couldn't foresee it, which meant that somehow this man directly influenced her own destiny. They had become close and, during a cold and lonely winter night, shared a bed together. It wasn't long before Temba knew she was with child and Taldic moved in permanently with Temba- fixing up the shack so that it was better suited to having a child in.

As she neared the birth of her child, however, Temba found that Taldic had been gone too long from a routine hunt. She feared the worst and waited as long as she could for him to return, but after three weeks she knew he wasn't coming back. Temba resigned herself to this fact and went back to a life of solitude, even if it were just for a few more weeks.

Then, on the 5th of Hearthfire in the year 4E 161, Temba gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and named her Kiliun. She raised her in the riverside shack, teaching her everything she would need to know in order, and though she had felt as if her life had been cursed by her ability, seeing such a happy and wonderful child- **_her_** child- made her feel blessed.


	2. Chapter 2

**4E 177, 16th of Mid Year, Mid Year Celebration**

A sixteen year old and bright eyed Kiliun wandered the streets of Windhelm, marvelling at the festivities. Her mother had always told her about such events, but they had never gone before. It was a clear day in the old city, but the streets were far from clear.

Making her way to each of the stalls, looking at the different items for sale and the different foods and drinks in the market, Kiliun felt as though she had been thrown into a whole new world.

It wasn't long before she got lost, however, and she searched through the side streets for a way back to the main gates. Thankfully, though, she was able to find someone who could help her.

"Hello." The man said.

"Hi, I'm a bit lost."

"Never been in Windhelm before, I see?"

Kiliun shook her head. "I'm afraid not." She smiled sheepishly. "I'm looking for the main gates of the city. Would you be so kind as to point me in the right direction?"

"I can show you."

Kiliun followed the man as he led her through the streets and back out to the main gates near the inn. She made to thank him, but someone came running up and addressed him as "my lord" and she knew then that he must be someone very important. When he turned back to her, she apologized for taking up his time and took her leave, thanking him as she waved farewell.

The man who helped her was the young Jarl of Windhelm, Ulfric Stormcloak. It was his second year as jarl, after losing his father, and he was still unsure of himself- fearing he would not be able to live up to or even passed the notoriety of his late father. When this strange fiery red haired young woman approached him, at first he thought her to be just another citizen of the hold but then as she turned, he caught a glimpse of her eyes and remembered the stories his father used to tell him. He turned to guard who had approached him and asked if he had seen her in Windhelm before.

"No, my lord. I do not think she lives within the city."

Ulfric wondered who she was and if she had any relation to the woman in the stories Hoag shared. "I want you to find out more about that young woman. Seek her out, invite her to the palace."

"Yes, sir."

Ulfric sent the guard on his way, hoping that his suspicions were right as he turned back to the festivities at hand.

* * *

Kiliun made her way back home to the humble and now rundown riverside shack she had called home her whole life. Her mother had passed away a few years ago and she had never known her father, so it was really just her alone with the occasional visitor that would come seeking their fortune.

Like her mother, Kiliun was blessed with the gift of foresight- able to predict the future through visions or dreams- and she had yet to be proven wrong. And also like her mother- though she would have yet to learn this until much later- she was unable to see anything if it directly involved her own fate.

As she reached her home, she was reminded again of how lonely it had been since her mother, Temba, had passed. Since she never knew her father, she didn't have anyone else to turn to or anywhere else to go. But Temba had raised her well and taught her how to fend for herself, so Kiliun managed to do just fine on her own.

As she started preparing herself a meal, she began to wonder who the man that helped her was and just how important he really was.

'He must have been some noble from the city.'

A knock came at the entrance of the shack and Kiliun turned to find a visitor standing in the doorway.

"Good evening."

Her visitor was a man in simple clothing, a bit on the elderly side, and was taken aback by her lack of surprise at his presence. "Forgive me, but I have been on the road for hours and caught a delicious scent on the wind." the man said. "Could I trouble you for a small portion of your meal?"

Kiliun smiled, having known the man was coming and made sure to prepare a little extra food for his arrival. "I'd be happy to share a meal with you." She gestured to the second chair at the table. "Please, sit and rest, it's nearly done."

The man sat in the chair and sighed with relief. "I should have prepared better for my journey, so I thank you for your generosity."

"It's my pleasure. I enjoy when I have guests, as seldom as they tend to come."

"Do you live here alone?"

Kiliun nodded. "My mother passed a few years ago and I never knew my father."

"My condolences." The man set his hat in his lap. "Do you have no other family?"

Kiliun shook her head. "No, none that I am aware of at least. Mother said her parents were killed by bandits when she was young and my father never spoke of any relatives. But it's alright, Mother taught me how to fend for myself and so far I think I'm doing a fine job on my own."

The man smiled at that. "You seem happy and healthy, so I would have to agree." He watched her for a moment or two, then let his curiosity get the better of him. "You didn't see surprised by my arrival."

Kiliun brought over some dishes, placing them at each seat. "I saw your coming here a few weeks ago, in a vision."

"A vision?"

Kiliun nodded. "I get visions, sometimes even dreams, of things that have yet to come to pass. It's an ability I inherited from my mother."

"A mystic, eh? I've heard of people like you, though I never thought that I'd ever meet one."

"We are a bit of a rare breed, not always accepted by others, and more often than not- like my mother- our ability is viewed as a curse rather than a gift."

The man watched as she brought over the meal and sat across from him. "And how do you see your ability?"

"I see it as a gift, from who, though, I don't know. I use my gift to try and help people that come to me or come across my path." She served the food and smiled when he thanked her.

"What else did you see with my coming?"

"I know that your name is Raddwulf and you are going to see an old friend in Windhelm."

Raddwulf nodded, clearly surprised but also amused. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes..." Kiliun paused a moment as she recalled the images she saw. "Your rear left wagon wheel will lose its boxing and hub somewhere along the road and come loose just outside of Windhelm Stables, but you will not face any other troubles on the journey. When you set foot inside the city walls, the one you seek will be visiting the market- speaking with a blonde woman."

Raddwulf pondered her words as they ate, unsure- like many others- how true her vision was. But she knew he was coming and knew his name before he shared it, so that was enough to take heed.

They continued the rest of their meal together, Raddwulf sharing tales of his travels and thanking her once more for sharing her delicious cooking with him before taking his leave.

Kiliun stood and watched the old man climb up into his wagon and urging his horse forward in hopes of reaching the city before nightfall. She smiled as he waved farewell and returned the gesture.

Meanwhile, in the city, the guard who had been tasked with finding Kiliun by the Jarl had been searching for clues to her identity for hours. He was having very little luck, so he broadened his search to the rest of the hold. It would be a long and daunting task, but he was determined not to fail and very soon, he would find his query.


End file.
